Release Date: June 24, 2015
A unique detective game by Sam Barlow, the main designer and writer of Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Her Story is a rare example of a FMV adventure game — most of the visuals consists of videos of live-action actors. The plot of Her Story focuses on a British woman named Hannah, whose husband went missing in mysterious circumstances.
Her Story is a detective game for PC, and a representative of a rather rare genre of FMV (Full Motion Video), where most of the graphics are movie sequences with actual actors performing. It was developed by Sam Barlow, the lead designer of Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
We play as a detective trying to resolve an old case. The answers are hidden in video sequences recorded back in 1994 in which a British woman named Hannah, whose husband went missing in mysterious circumstances, is being interrogated. On the basis of the footage, we have to piece the puzzles together to uncover the truth.
In total, there are seven film sequences to watch, although every one is long enough for the player to be unable to all the meaningful information after watching it just once. To make the task easier, the game has a system of searching keywords that allows us to quickly navigate to moments when Hannah uses a given phrase.
Nearly the entire game is composed of pre-recorded video sequences. The developer put a lot of effort into making them look like slightly blurry VHS tapes from 1994. Moreover, Her Story has a minimalistic interface that mimics the old police computers. In practice, our machine simulates the screen in front of the protagonist, where numerous features require the player to manually enter a text command. The game also offers a virtual desktop that brings to mind the style of early Windows operating systems. Everything is complemented by a very well-performed role of Hannah, played by Viva Seifert.
Platforms:
PC Windows June 24, 2015
Android June 29, 2016
Apple iOS June 24, 2015
Developer: Sam Barlow
Publisher: Sam Barlow
Age restrictions: 12+
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System Requirements for Her Story Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, graphic card 512 MB GeForce 8800 GT or better, 2 GB HDD, Windows XP.
Recommended System Requirements:
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 4 GB RAM, graphic card 1 GB GeForce GTX 460 or better, 2 GB HDD, Windows 7.
Game Ratings for Her Story Video Game.
Game Rant: 4.5 / 5 by Melissa Loomis
Sam Barlow's Her Story puts the player in the center of an engrossing crime story like Serial or The Jinx, letting you unravel the video game mystery as you go.
IGN: 8.5 / 10 by Brian Albert
Her Story's deep, dark story makes excellent use of old-school full-motion video.
Destructoid: 10 / 10 by Laura Kate Dale
It's not a typical structure for a game, but the mechanics really do work in the context of the narrative. If you like the idea of an open-ended '90s murder mystery with no guarantee you'll find a solid answer to its mysteries, then I can't recommend this highly enough. Her Story is a spectacular video game, and one of the most gripping personal narratives I've experienced in some time.
Average score from votes.